


A Wayward Lily Approaches

by KentukaZash, Littletee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Hogwarts House Sorting, F/M, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape Friendship, Parallel Universes, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24004249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KentukaZash/pseuds/KentukaZash, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littletee/pseuds/Littletee
Summary: Lily Evans and Severus Snape. A couple well-known for their philia and pragma, their friendship and enduring devotion, but doomed to the confines of tragedy.  In reality, after reality, their union is always cursed under the tears of tragedy and never graced with the laughter of comedy. That is their fate. Their destiny.However, the prayers of the star-crossed souls joined with the promise of merriment moves the Moirai Fata to spin a new thread of reality, one divined from two threads intertwined by their immortal intervention and collaboration. A thread that may finally permit a happy ending for Lily and Severus.Written for the Snape BigBang 2020 competition.
Relationships: Lily Evans Potter/Severus Snape
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27
Collections: Snape Bigbang





	1. Prologue

#  **Prologue**

Time swirls around dancing across many realities. Realities that perfectly lie parallel one to another. Realities that intercept once, twice, trice, or more and that are all woven and written down in the files of the Beings that governed them, Being that was Time as well. All of them making up the Immortal Council. Neither of them were confined to the persistent boundaries governing each reality. Time was a free agent while its course was determined since the foundations of the heavens were laid. However, it also enjoyed the odd giggle or lark every age or so, sometimes more if Fate and Death allowed. 

Time pulsated with mirth. ‘ _How interesting… how curious._ ’ He looked up at Fate and she smiled. Death seemed to already know what was happening.

_Ah, of course. The young man had died. An honest prayer to save a friend… both friends praying for the other divided by parallel universes never to meet. Unless..._ Time looked over at Fate and she nodded. Death agreed. It was a good moment to shift the realities again. A new file to make, one that brought two worlds together. Of course, what was given, had to be taken, but the price would be paid by The Council because creating a new reality, adding a new file into their already huge Universe File Keeper, had a price. In essence the two realities they mashed together would also continue on their own and another one where two people died instead of just one would also be created. You couldn’t change realities, just make new ones that had your wished end result.

More than often, that was the purpose of Darkness, to create worlds where The Council couldn’t reach, but not always. Sometimes, The Council as a whole or, just Time, Fate, and Death—as its leaders—decided to do it as well. They were not somewhere far away looking at the worlds without any care as Darkness liked to make people believe, they were involved. And now more than ever, their souls reached towards the person who had asked, unknowingly for Time to change its course, for Fate to change and for Death to not come. 

However, they had done those things before. That was why they had mashed realities together. They all were thinking ‘ _What a wheeze it would be if instead of simply traveling back a long time, we transverse realities to bring these two friends cursed under the signs of star-crossed lovers together in the present. Different worlds but within the same time-scape. Oh, what a hoot it would be!_ ‘

And as you all will see unfold, indeed, it was a hoot. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And for my second Bang project for the Snape BigBang 2020 feast is this gem of a story that I had the honor of collaborating with the talented KentukaZash. KentukaZash drew a sweet illustration of Lily and Severus hugging. It can be seen over on their Tumblr page, the same screen name. 
> 
> This story was betaed by DarylDIxon’sgirl1985 and Claude Amelia Song. Thanks for being super awesome, you guys! 
> 
> In addition, this story now belongs and is set in Claude Amelia Song’s Guardians Universe. (Thank you for allowing me to play in your awesome multiverse sandbox, girl!) It is a standalone work in that series, so you do not need to know anything about the other stories. The Prologue and Epilogue were written with her input so as to fit exactly in her Multiverse and to promote symmetry between them—according to Google Docs they should be the same amount of words.


	2. Chapter One

# Chapter One

  
  


###  _Wiltshire, England. _

###  _ January 1979. _

A soft pop startled a pair of peafowl awake who quickly scurried away when they saw the three new figures that had swirled into being inches away from the peafowl’s secluded roosting spot just beyond the outer back wall of the Malfoy gardens.    
  
“Silencio,” Lily whispered as she jabbed her wand at the two retreating birds. It would not do for the whole bevy to be upset which would naturally alert the manor that unwelcome guests had entered the estate. 

“Dobby did good, did he not, Master Snape?” the small, young house-elf timidly asked as he tugged on his ears. His big eyes seeking both Severus’s and Lily’s faces for verification that he had served his new master well. 

“Yes. Yes, you did very well.” Severus absently praised Dobby as he continued stealthily surveying the grounds and the ancient manor beyond the stone garden wall that currently shielded them from view. 

“Now Dobby, stay near here and wait for our return.” Lily offered a friendly smile and a gentle pat on the head to the beaming house-elf as she passed Dobby to join her Order partner and longtime childhood friend. 

This was a highly important and by the same extension highly dangerous mission that Dumbledore had given them to follow through on. It was only one of several clues how the course of the war had turned to a more solemn one in the past few months for the Order of the Phoenix. . . well, for everyone involved against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his so-called knights. Although neither Severus nor Lily had discussed it, they both knew that any high-caliber leader, such as Dumbledore was, would never normally expose his reconnaissance agents to commando missions like this, but with the harsh reality of Order members being besieged and slaughtered around the full and new moons throughout the last ten months had greatly reduced their ranks. 

Lily allowed Severus to take her hand as he muttered another layer of his own personally enhanced modification of the disillusionment charm over them, sealing them safely away from any watchful eyes or advanced security wards.

They could not fail. 

They  _ would not _ fail.

Snow began to lazily drift around them as they swiftly climbed over the wall before keeping to the shadows as they circled around the manor house to the pair of French doors that would lead them to the study and to the priceless items locked within.

Items that could not only bring this bloody war to an end but bring down the very dark wizard himself to his barren grave. 

Neither dared to speak as Severus aptly picked the lock with a wave of his wand before pulling both of them inside the dark yet ornately furnished study and flicking the doors back to their previous locked state. 

They stood embraced in the midst of the room. Shadows heavily surrounded them, protecting them one could say, as lively voices came from the balcony they had been on only seconds before. 

Thank heaven for Severus’s swift action. Lily closed her eyes for the briefest of moments as she breathed in the wondrous scent of cedarwood, vanilla bean, and the seaside that was explicitly Severus. 

Lily missed Severus mirroring her actions with his own while still listening to the inane chatter from the newlywed Malfoys carrying through the French doors as the couple strolled the gardens together. 

Severus and Lily both prayed that neither Malfoy would want anything from the study as the voices slowly drifted further away from the huddled pair. 

Hesitantly, Lily pulled herself away from Severus. They were on a mission, a very important one, and it was not the time for her to indulge herself no matter how comforting or tantalizing Severus’s embrace was. She was a strong, independent witch. 

Severus chuckled lightly which caused Lily to pout and swat him with her hand. 

‘You’re nothing but a Legilimens sneak thief that’s what you are Severus Snape.’ she mentally scolded him as she sent him a long glare.

Severus smirked before ruffling Lily’s hair playfully as he passed her to scan the myriad of shelves taking up the west wall of the study. 

After whispering a lighthearted hex causing Severus’s hair to be disheveled in a small whirlwind, she righted her own locks back into place, she ventured over to the large desk standing paramount. 

They both had their own tasks. 

His was to find a cursed leather journal that had once belonged to You-Know-Who. While hers was to find an ornate, heirloom locket that dated back to Salazar Slytherin himself. 

Seconds ticked into minutes as both methodically searched the study. Lily had been about to switch her attention to file cabinet when her knee unexpectedly triggered a secret latch that sprung out a secret compartment under the writing desk’s top. Filled with adrenaline and renewed hope Lily pushed the desktop aside to reveal several documents, photographs, an old hand mirror, some lose keys, and a rectangular jewelry box. Carefully she picked up the box and opened it. Gasping when her eyes beheld the locket. She had found it and it was breathtakingly crafted. The gold chain was heavy, cool, but yet electrifying to her touch. The pendent was ellipsoidal with finite metal sketchings keyed into the gold with an ornate and cardinal serpentine S enchased with forty-nine cut emeralds. It carried a heaviness that transcended mere metallurgy. It was like it was alive and not at the same time. A paradoxical enigma forged in both fire and bloodshed. 

“I found it,” Lily whispered as she placed the pendant into her reticule before slowly locking the desktop back into its place. “How is your search coming?”

“Not as fruitful as yours, yet,” Severus whispered, he did not bother to turn around as he started another row of books to look through. 

Standing Lily went over and joined him. They worked side by side in perfect rhythm. She would search the lowest shelves while he looked through the tallest ones. About two rows in Lily felt Severus tensed. 

“I found it,” he said softly. A note of cautious joy clear in his hushed voice. “Let’s depart before we are found out.”

“Yes, let’s.” Lily agreed, accepting Severus’s outstretched hand with her own. Another wave of warm comforting magic flowing down upon Lily signaled that Severus had renewed their disillusionment charms once more. 

With bated breath, they stealthily left the study and clung to the shadows along the walls of the old manor. Both fearful that they would be found out by the strolling pureblood newlyweds wandering the gardens, only a dozen or so feet from them.

Just as it appeared they would safely abscond away Lily stumbled over a misplaced croquet ball, sending it rolling into the bevy of peafowl which caused them to scatter squeaking. 

Severus squeezed Lily’s hand tighter and pulled her closer to him. He didn’t slow his constant march onward. He had to get Lily out of there. That was his driving force, his mantra. Nothing else mattered as the mission began to go pear-shaped around them. 

“That’s odd, Lucius,” Narcissa Malfoy remarked upon seeing two peacocks rush towards her, eyes wild, beaks flapping, but no sound emitting from them.

“What’s odd?” Lucius asked as he absently toyed with a lock of his wife’s hair. His mind not on peacocks or the moonlight but on the golden locks of his lover. 

Narcissa waved at the cowering landfowl. “Two of the peacocks have become mute all of a sudden.”

“Stay close.” Lucius stiffened. His lackadaisical attitude banished away without a trace remaining in his chiseled features. His wand at the ready. “Homenum Revelio!”

Narcissa straightened proclaimed, “Appare Vestigium!” and twirled. Golden footprints revealing their movements.

“Damnation!” Severus hissed as he dropped all pretense of stealth broke into a run. His fingers cutting into Lily’s slender wrist as she fought to match his longlegged strides.

“Carpe Retractum!” Lucius shouted, lassoing Lily successfully yanking her away from Severus with an abrupt pull backward.

“Confringo!” Both Lily and Severus jointly cast against Lucius. 

The blond wizard swore and dropped his wand. Severus seized the moment and took Lily’s hand again. 

However, Narcissa sliced her wand through the air, the hex mild but her aim true as an arrow fired and pierced Lily’s side. Lily’s scream filled the winter night. 

“Duro!” Severus spat. Not waiting to see Narcissa morph into stone as he pressed on, making sure that Lily’s hand was firmly in his. He had to get her out of here and back to safety.

“Dobby protect masters.”

“No!” Lily shouted as she saw Dobby pop into the gardens. Him shakingly yet determinately starring down his former master Lucius. Then they were out of the gardens, beyond the garden wall. Severus dragging forward as shouts and hexes fly behind them. “We can’t leave him behind.”

“He can flee when we are clear of here. The faster we run the quicker he can be safe.” Severus hurriedly explained as he guided them towards the treeline a dozen yards away.

Snow whirled around them, their cloaks billowing around their running legs as they escaped the Malfoy estate.

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you… I’ll protect you till the end of time.” Severus uttered as he gently squeezed Lily’s hand. Their feet finally crunching frozen pine needles and acorns as they fled into the sparse wood.

“Severus?” Lily asked as a sudden wave of coldness overtook the mellowed warmth from their intertwined hands. Something was wrong. They hadn’t been friends for most of their lives for her not to recognize the worrying signs.

“Forgive me,” he sadly muttered before whispering something Lily never thought she would hear from him—not her steadfast companion and surrogate brother: “Imperio.”

The coldness left her in waves only to be replaced with scourging warmth. She felt like she had been submerged into a hot spring. Her fear and excitement melted away. She was floating and drifting in only positive energy and sensations. The throbbing pain that had been radiating from her injured side seconds before now peacefully, euphorically had grown silent. 

Lily sighed happily. 

She had discovered nirvana. Everything was all right. Everything was good. 

“You are to Apparate back to the Order, take the necklace and the journal to Dumbledore, and tell him what we have seen tonight.” Severus softly ordered her as he took one of Lily’s hands in his, placed the lambskin leather-bound journal within, and gently closed her fingers around it. “Don’t come back for me… I… Live for me, Lily.” 

Severus brushed a lock of her red hair back behind her ear. 

“Now, go.”

Lily hugged the book to her chest and spun away. Her soft pop echoing off the trees around Severus.

  
“I love you,” he breathed into the fierce wind whipping around him. His woolen coat and hair swirling around him as he turned back from where they had been fleeing, his wand out and his stance sure. Now to be the hero he had never wanted to be but the hero Lily needed him to be. 


	3. Chapter Two

#  **Chapter Two**

Severus’s frown tugged further downward upon seeing his inheritance, an old “manor house” that had most definitely seen better days. It was the Prince family estate, and as expected from a long, proud line of Roman-English wizards, it was an old Roman fortress complete with earthen defenses. The outer garrison was 30 feet high, 20 feet wide, and encircled the majority of the estate (some 24 furlongs) and boasted two towers that encompassed the gate. 

He, Severus Snape, was the last Prince heir or some such kind of nonsense. The manor had stood empty for almost two decades until the death of Severus’s mother that past month—apparently, while she had been disinherited her progeny had not, it had just skipped her and ventured to him upon her death. 

Now he had to decide what to do with it, hence this short inspection during the Christmas Holidays.    
  
Retrieving his wand, he placed its tip into the crescent hollow impression on the left tower and uttered, “ _Propter enim umbras caritatis libertatem et gloriam, stabit._ ” just as that old solicitor, Henry Greenwood, had instructed him to do: “To prove your bloodline true to the ancient magicks guarding the estate, present your wand to the crescent and utter the motto of your mother’s family. ‘For in view of the freedom from the shadows, and to the glory of charity, he shall stand.’ In Latin, of course.”

The sound of heavy iron bars retracting vibrated the ground and walls. Severus took a cautious step back away from the overhanging stonework above him. It would be just his type of luck to be crushed by falling debris. 

When the gate had come to its rest, it’s ironwork completely absorbed into the ancient stone and bricks above, Severus strode into the compound, scanning the buildings and gardens with a scrutinizing eye. 

An old house-elf clad in a black tunic appeared before him and bowed low to the gravel walk. “Greetings Master, Nero is I.” 

Severus pushed his lips into a thin line. Greenwood had not mentioned anything about bounded elves. Resisting the urge to pinch his nose, Severus briskly returned Nero’s greeting. “Morning Nero. Are there any more of you about the grounds?”

Nero straightened himself. A forlorn expression crossing his features. “No, I only remain, master.”

“I see.” Severus nodded. That was a relief to know that he was burdened with only one house-elf and not a small horde of the creatures. He did not really like the idea of him playing grand lord over other beings. He had played the servant too many years to ever feel comfortable as the master. 

“Will Master like Nero to guide him? Many buildings and rooms there are here.”

“Very well. Lead the way.” Severus waved his hand in the general direction of the rest of the manor.

Most of the manor was as dark and brooding as Severus expected it to be. Somehow, each room had more dusty furniture and old paintings than the last. At some point, Severus gave the droll house elf a random task to do just to have some time alone to wander around on his own. As he was standing out on a balcony, his hackles began to crackle from some energy force. Whirling around, cape billowing and wand out, he was suddenly aiming his wand at a person in the middle of the room.

Not just a person.

Lily Potter.

“L-Lily?” He struggled to get the name out.

“Severus?”

He started to lower his wand, but came to his senses quickly and retrained his aim on her. “Who are you?”

Lily looked around, seemingly equally confused, but refocused on Severus and took a few steps toward him, but stopped when she saw Severus’ eyes narrow. “You don’t… It’s me, Lily Evans.”

“No.” Severus tightened his grip on his wand. “Lily died. Prove who you are, imposter.”

In a swift movement, he flicked his wand and uttered a charm and was swimming into the woman’s mind. He saw their first meeting as children. He saw them joining the Order. He saw the two of them holding each other in the Malfoy Manor. He heard a whispered curse.

“No!” He came out of her mind, breathing hard and staring with wide eyes. She  _ was _ Lily. Just not the Lily he knew. Not  _ his  _ Lily. Another Lily. One that it seemed had a much better relationship with  _ her  _ Severus. And he cursed the Hat again in his head for sorting him into Slytherin. 

“How did you get here?” he finally asked her.

“I don’t know.”

And Lily didn’t. She put her hands on her face, trying to block the tears from escaping her eyes. The person in front of her looked like Severus, but she could see, he really wasn’t if his reaction had been any clue. Her Severus… was gone and she had no idea how to get back or if she wanted to go back to a world that didn’t have him any longer.

  
  


* * *

  
  


After exchanging a few words with… _ different _ Lily, Severus decided to take her with him to meet with Remus and Dumbledore. He explained that he needed to go to a meeting to talk about some Order business since she obviously knew about the Order of the Phoenix even if it wasn’t the same one he was in. 

Severus paused outside the door. 

“Let me do the explaining,” he said over his shoulder at …. the other timeline’s Lily. 

“Okay.”

Lily hadn’t said much apart from asking and answering a few questions back at the Prince Manor. She seemed in shock, but Severus wasn’t going to push. He couldn’t exactly let her out of his sight, and this was something Dumbledore needed to be made aware of, so she needed to go. Even if this meeting was secret to even the other members of the Order.

Severus made her wait just outside the kitchen, where Remus was waiting. “Remus,” he said when he went into the kitchen.

“Severus.” Remus was just as short.

“I have a slight… situation.” 

“Must we with the theatrics, Severus? I really don’t have the mind for it.”

Severus narrowed his eyes at Remus for a moment, the two of them standing in silence. “Very well.” He swept his robe out as he stretched his hand out in the direction of the doorway. “Come on in.”

“You’ve brought someone here?” Remus hissed through gritted teeth. “Are you ma—” He stopped speaking when two familiar eyes were staring back at him. “Lily?”

“Do I know you?” Lily asked.

Severus raised an eyebrow at Remus, his arms crossed over his chest. “It would appear… we have a visitor.”

“A visitor?” Remus slowly stood and walked toward Lily, who took a few steps closer to Severus, putting him between her and Remus slightly.

“This is not Lily Potter,” Severus said.

“Who the bloody hell is it, then?” Remus raised his voice.

“Lily Evans.”

Everyone turned toward the source of the voice to see Albus Dumbledore.

“Dumbledore?” Lily looked a little uncertain. “Albus Dumbledore? Is that you?”

“Mmhmm.” Dumbledore nodded.

“I almost couldn’t tell. You look different here.”

“We can talk about that later, I’m sure.” 

Dumbledore patted her on the shoulder as he walked by to take a seat at the table. “Have a seat. Please explain, Severus.”

“Oh, please do,” Remus said as he plopped into a seat, still staring at Lily.

He did most of the talking, explaining that the Lily in front of them was from a place different from theirs and not, in fact, Lily Potter.

Lily told Dumbledore about the horcruxes she and her Order were after, showing the remains of the locket to them. It seemed that interdimensional travel could kill Horcruxes.

The Headmaster theorized that they were potentially in their universe, too. After some planning, Remus finally lost the shell shocked expression, and asked plenty of questions, eager to know more about the other universe. However, Dumbledore put a stop to their chatter and told them that they needed to find out the Horcruxes in their timeline.

“Hagrid will keep an eye out for the boy, and I’ll find out what I can from some old friends,” Remus commented rather cryptically.

“Very well,” Dumbledore said. “Everyone has their tasks.”

Snape walked Dumbledore and Remus outside. “Should we tell her about her son?” Remus asked.

“She will find out in time,” Dumbledore commented before vanishing before their eyes. Remus left a moment later.

“Whose son?”

Severus turned to see Lily in the doorway. “Are you always listening in on people’s conversations?”

Lily walked toward him. “Do _ I _ have a son?”

“I don’t think the boy is technically your child.”

“Where is he?” She kept walking closer.

“Not my place to say.” Severus started to walk past her back to the door, but Lily grabbed his arm to stop him. “He should remain where he is. At least until the Horcruxes are gone.”

“Please, Severus.” She looked him right in the eyes, the pleading clear on her face. 

“Very well.” He could never say no to her. "He's at your sister's."

Lily frowned. "I don't have a sister."

"Here you do. Her name is Petunia."

Lily's emerald eyes sparkled. She had family here... well, her doppelgänger did. A sister and a son. She had always wanted a brother or a sister. "Is she a witch like me?"

Severus snorted. "In one sense of the word, yes, but she is not magical if that was what you meant. She is the most unagreeable _Muggle_ I have had the displeasure of knowing. You—" he cleared his throat, "my Lily and her were estranged. Had been for years. I was actually quite surprised to hear that she had taken in Harry... that's your _—_ my Lily's son."

"Oh," Lily visibly deflated before squaring her shoulders and mustering her spirits once more. Her emerald eyes not leaving Severus's obsidian ones. "Sev, please take me to her and to Harry."

"Under one condition, that we only look in on them. Petunia is a Muggle but she has surprisingly high contacts within the Ministry. Ones I would rather not alert of your presence."

Lily nodded her consent. 

So Severus begrudgingly took Lily to the Dursleys. He could not say no to her. However, what he thought would just be them looking through the window turned into Lily banging on the door. Lily couldn’t stand to see the way baby Harry was being treated whether this was some other version of her son or not. While Vernon and Petunia were too stunned at seeing Petunia’s dead sister very much alive and very much angry, Lily tore the baby from the cot and Apparated away from the house, leaving an equally stunned Severus Snape to figure out something to tell the befuddled Dursleys.


	4. Chapter Three

###  **Chapter Three**

If Lily had any qualms with going around with a Severus she never actually knew, hunting for Horcruxes in a timeline that wasn’t hers, she certainly showed no sign. She also appeared to have bonded with Harry almost instantly. Severus was apprehensive at best. And thought this was a horrible idea at worst. They didn’t know if she would suddenly go back to her universe or not. And perhaps that was what scared him the most. This Lily seemed to  _ like him.  _ And goodness, if he didn’t like her back. However, he was conflicted about how to proceed. He figured that when they had finished their Horcrux search, he would decide something, depending on how things developed.

They stayed at Prince Manor since Severus really didn’t know what else to do with Lily and he wanted to keep more people from seeing her. She and the baby slept down the hall from his bedroom. Their days were spent researching and reading and finding people to speak to. Having a baby to care for made hunting for Horcruxes even harder than it was going to be, but Lily looked so content that he didn’t have the heart to complain.

Unfortunately, the time soon came for them to have to venture to more dangerous places. The first Horcrux they were able to locate was the journal. Lily appeared to really battle with herself over whether or not to go with Severus. She ultimately decided to stay with Harry while Severus went to get the journal. That was what they thought was going to be the easiest Horcrux to find. It ended up being a simple trip to the Malfoy house.

Severus was pretty closed up with Lily about the whole Death Eater past thing, but she didn’t push. He was using that association to help the good guys now, so she supposed everything was alright. She could see that he still was her Sev, even if he wasn’t  _ her Severus.  _

Dumbledore found the ring for the group. He wasn’t really clear about how or where he found it, but the Order knew when to not ask too many questions. 

When it came to looking for the locket, Severus and Lily went on an adventure that lasted for weeks. They traveled to where the Potters used to live in Godric’s Hollow. When they went into the house where Harry got his scar, Severus went quiet and Lily could see he was silently brooding. She didn’t want to think what memories the house brought back to him and she didn’t want to dwell much on what the house had meant to the other her. 

Meanwhile, Severus didn’t know how to feel or what to say. The house looked exactly like it had been. He vividly remembered that night with each step and all the rooms were untouched by the passage of time. Dust was the only witness to the years passing. If he closed his eyes, Severus could see himself holding a dead Lily in his arms. 

In the very room they were now looking for clues about the Horcruxes. 

And he was back inside.

With Lily.

But it wasn’t _ his  _ Lily—the Lily he had cried many tears over. No, he had buried that Lily a long time before he met this one. And in a way, he was glad.  _ This  _ Lily was so different from his own. Nevertheless, he found himself entranced by those differences more with every single passing day. He didn’t know how to fair with that. Could he love another again?

As Lily for her part, she tried to make conversation with Severus throughout the day, but he was fairly short with her. His words were polite and he wasn’t being cold, but they were addressed as she was a stranger, which she hoped she wasn’t, not any longer. When they found a place nearby to spend the night, he’d denied any dinner and went to bed. Later, while Lily was pacing with Harry that night, she heard noises from Severus’ room. It sounded like he was in distress. Worried, she laid little Harry down in his cot and quietly trekked to Severus’ room.

She decided against knocking on the door and just opened it. Lily poked her head inside the room and saw Severus tossing and turning in the bed. Biting her lip, she debated what to do. Sure, she knew he wasn’t the Severus she’d fallen in love with, but she surely was headed towards the same path. Even different, he was still… Severus and Lily couldn’t imagine a life where she didn’t have Severus in her life, where she didn’t love him. Making the decision, she pushed the door open and slipped inside, leaving a crack in the door to listen out for Harry. Once inside, her instincts took over, and she was at Severus’ bedside before she could talk herself out of it. He needed her, plain and simple and she couldn’t  _ not  _ help him.

Lily took a moment to look at the plane of Severus’ face.

When awake, he was so serious and cold. It was like he wanted to keep everyone and everything in the world away from him. But when he was asleep?

He looked exactly like her Severus.

Every plane of his face was the same. When relaxed in sleep, he was just...Severus. The mask he put on to keep everyone at bay wasn’t there. She could see the face that had captivated her oh so long ago when she was a young Hufflepuff. They had spent so much time together in their common room, the library...on the grounds. They’ve been inseparable. They hadn’t been by no means the most popular kids in school, but they’d had friends and they’d been well-liked by a majority of the professors. Hagrid had welcomed them into his home. They had a family outside their own, who had understood and trusted them. Things were so different in the new universe for this Severus, Lily could see that. 

When  _ they _ ’d gotten involved with the Order, they fully believed in fighting the Dark Lord and ensuring the future of the Wizarding World. They were in it together. There wasn’t a single mission that one had been without the other. 

Severus hadn’t told her too much about the Lily of his timeline. She knew that the other Lily had ended up with some other man. Given little Harry’s last name, she wasn’t sure the father of little Harry even existed in her universe. She couldn’t believe that in any timeline or universe that could exist and had Severus and her in it could end with the two of them not together. 

Surely, that was where they were headed before…before her, Severus had decided to be a noble-hearted Gryffindor. In a way, Lily was grateful for the little differences the two had, this way, she was sure she liked him for him and not the memory she had of him.

Severus turned and cried out again, stirring Lily from her musings and reminding her why she was there in the first place. Without really thinking, she sat on the edge of the bed and placed her hand on Severus’ shoulder. She blatantly wondered if he was suffering from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder.

“You poor thing,” she whispered. “Hey.” She raised her voice a little as she shook his shoulder as gently as she could. “It’s me.”

“No,” he mumbled. “Not _her_ , my lord. Please if I have ever pleased you with my devoted service, spare Lily.”

The words were soft, but Lily heard them. “What has this world put you through, love?” she spoke softly. “Severus.” She raised her voice. “Wake up.”

With a start, Severus bolted upright, wand at the ready. Lily hadn’t known that he slept with it under his pillow, but thinking back, it made sense, didn’t it? After a moment, he seemed to realize that it was she who was sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Lily?” Severus blinked the sleep away, and his face returned some of its usual roughness. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see if you’re okay.”

“I’m fine.” Severus was partially trapped under the blanket since Lily was sitting on it, so he escaped from the other side of the bed.

“Wait. Don’t go.” She wanted to comfort him, but she didn’t know how to go about it. In her reality, with her Severus, a quick hug or a shared cuppa between them would lift whatever remorse was plaguing the other, but here... she doubted a hug, much less a hot beverage, would be as effective. This Severus had endured and seen so much.

Severus paused in grabbing his cloak. “What?”

“Can you…can you talk to me for a bit?”

Snape hesitated for a moment before sighing and sitting back on the bed, on the edge on the opposite side of the bed from Lily. 

It was clear Severus wasn’t planning on beginning the conversation, so Lily decided to just take the leap. “Will you tell me about it? About when you were… with him?”

Severus swallowed hard before his shoulders finally slumped. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything.” And she really did want to know, Lily realized. She had grown to care for him as much as for the Severus who had died back in her world.

“Are you sure about that?” He seemed so warry to tell her.

“Absolutely.” She took his hands in his and grasped them gently before she let go again. 

Severus sat back against the headboard, and Lily did the same. They each stayed on opposite sides of the bed though, a chasm between them. 

And they stayed like that until the sun started to come up.

And Lily stayed and listened to every word, keeping them in her heart.


	5. Chapter Four

#  **Chapter Four**

It took nearly four months, but they were finally locking the last of the Horcruxes inside a special compartment in Dumbledore’s office.

“The diadem,” Dumbledore said. “We’ve found all five.”

“Indeed, Headmaster,” Severus said. 

“We’ll keep this locked for now.” Dumbledore waved his hand, and the journal, ring, locket, chalice, and diadem were no longer in sight. “The students go home for the summer next week.”

“Are you sure it’s wise to keep all of these in the school, professor?” Remus asked. 

“It is very dark magic embedded within them. Dangerous and ancient magicks,” Snape added.

“I believe there are few places that would be safer,” Dumbledore answered. “When the school is empty, we will look for the Chamber.”

“The chamber?” Remus asked.

“The Chamber of Secrets.”

The legendary chamber of Salazar Slytherin himself… Remus let out a long, low whistle. “Do you think there’s another Horcrux in there?”

Severus shook his head. “What we need to destroy the Horcruxes is in there.”

“How can you be so certain?”

“Do not act as though you have forgotten which House I was in. Which House I am Head of.”

“Just because you’re a Slytherin—”

“That’s enough.” Dumbledore sat in his chair. “Take the week. The Horcruxes are safely locked away. You all need a break.”

Severus left the room, swooshing his robe behind him on the way.

After the students left for the summer holidays, Snape returned with Lily, who carried little Harry in a sling on her back. They were going to spend the time searching for the Chamber so it was much easier for him—them— to stay in the school. He’d been flooing for the better part of the year between the Horcrux Hunt and his desire to spend as much time as possible with Lily at Prince Manor. However, he had to admit, he’d missed his old quarters; they’ve been his home for many years.

Lily, on her part, was in awe of Hogwarts. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something was just… different. It wasn’t as though her Hogwarts was a completely different school, but it just didn’t feel the same when she walked into it. A few of the decorations were different. Some of the people walking through the paintings were wearing different house colors than she remembered. 

But it was still  _ Hogwarts. _

Their first stop was to meet Dumbledore in his office. Hagrid was being sworn into their secret group of Order people that were aware of Lily’s arrival. Both Remus and Severus had been doubtful of his inclusion, but Lily had stood steadfast that Hagrid could be trusted. Granted she had not met this world’s Hagrid, however, she was sure that he could not have changed so much from the lovable professor she knew him to be in her own world. The dice was ultimately cast when Dumbledore voiced his resolute trust in the gentle giant.

“Professor Dumbledore, sir, what is the matter? I rushed right up when I heard you needed to see me.”

Lily smiled as she saw the giant yet not overbearing frame of Hagrid lumber into the office. Her smile broadened when Harry stirred and began murmuring as he reached out to Hagrid. 

“Hagrid, please take a seat. I have some good news.” Dumbledore motioned to an enlarged chair that Hagrid eagerly took. It was not every day one got summoned to Dumbledore’s office. Maybe his appeal before the Board of Governors had been favorably received this year. “Lily Evans is back among us.”

“Lily’s back?” Hagrid’s eyes widen to the size of small saucers. Wouldn’t it be the happiest day if Lily had somehow cheated death like her poor little son had? He sniffed, forcing himself not to cry yet. “Why that is great, sir! How is she? I mean, what with surviving that Killing Curse and ...all the time we thought she was dead?”

Dumbledore grinned. It was always a pleasure to work with Hagrid—a true soul without any alternative motives. “Why not ask her yourself, Hagrid.” Dumbledore warmly answered motioning for Lily, Harry, and a guarded Severus to come out from the shadows. 

Hagrid hastily got to his feet. A wide smile firmly in place as he greeted them all in a light hug. “Lily, it’s so good to see you. And you got little ‘arry with you too.” he ruffled Harry’s hair tenderly with his fingers. “You sure have grown since I last saw you.”

He noticed how Severus stood protectively near Lily and how she involuntarily leaned towards Severus and Hagrid joyfully clapped his hands. “You two are friends again! Wonderful!”

“Hagrid,” Dumbledore calmly called, immediately regaining control over the reunion. “I also called you here to ask a favor of you.”

Hagrid straightened. “Yes, sir. Whatever it is, consider it done.”

Dumbledore smiled. “Through some research, we believe that the monster of the Chamber of Secrets is not an Acromantula but a Basilisk.”

Hagrid stiffened. His lips pressed into a faint line almost entirely obscured by his beard. “I told you professor that it couldn’t have been Aragog... but a Basilisk? Those are nasty little buggers, or so I’ve heard.” he turned to Lily, “Excuse me, Lily. Never met any myself, of course.”

“Yes, a Basilisk.” Severus impatiently cut in. “We need to kill it and harvest its venom.”

“And you need me to wrangle a weasel and a rooster to help.” Hagrid correctly concluded as he returned Severus' steely stare. Hagrid gathered that there was something more that they were not telling him but it didn’t matter. If he could help, then he would. “Give me a week and then we can go to this Chamber of Secrets.”

  
  
  


“First we need to find it,” murmured the Potions Master, but his words were heard only by Lily, who gently squeezed his arm. 

That afternoon both of them began their search for the chamber— Dumbledore still had school world to get done and Remus was currently at his new Muggle Job. Although Lily had come to terms with the fact that Severus here had been a Slytherin, sometimes, she still imagined how  _ he _ would have been in Hufflepuff. 

Days rolled into weeks but only by the fourth week they got a break in the case. 

While changing Harry’s nappy, Lily heard sobbing in a bathroom stall. Slightly terrified, but mostly concerned, she called out to the mystery occupant.

She was not expecting a ghost girl to come screeching at her.

“Who are you?” Lily asked, clinging Harry to her chest.

“I’m Moaning Myrtle.”

“What Myrtle?”

“Moaning Myrtle.”

“Umm, hello, Myrtle.” Lily relaxed slightly. “Why were you crying?”

Surprised at the genuine question, Moaning Myrtle told Lily the story of how a young Voldemort had killed her. 

“So you heard him talking to someone? In here?”

“In that weird voice. He was not a good person.”

Moaning Myrtle actually got the help of a few other ghosts and portraits to get everyone to meet Lily in the bathroom. The ghost pointed Lily and Severus in the right direction and then disappeared down a toilet with a loud splash.

From there they had reported back to Dumbledore their discovery along with Severus’s suspicions about what Myrtle meant by her cryptic phrase,  _ “In that weird voice.” _ Parseltongue. 

A few days later, dawn found Severus, Lily, Remus, Hagrid, and Dumbledore standing around the circular washbasins. Despite Severus's disapproval, Lily had also brought Harry with her, the little boy safely tucked into a baby sling before stepping forward. Between Moaning Myrtle’s memories and Dumbledore’s hidden ability to decipher Parseltongue they were able to figure out what needed to be said in order to gain entrance. Although Severus was not a true Parselmouth he did have an uncanny ability for mimicry. 

“ _ Open up,”  _ Severus hissed in a low growl. The engraved serpents embracing the spigot hissed back before slithering down the pipes out of sight. 

Little Harry giggled and clapped as with a low rumble, the passageway to the Chamber of Secrets was opened before them. After slowly descending down the long ductwork the group cautiously walked down the skeleton littered passageway. Lily suppressed the maddening urge to shudder after each close encounter with a crushed bone. She knew that she couldn’t show any fear if she wanted Harry to not be frightened. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity the group of five  _ and the baby _ were now standing at what appeared to be a dead-end if it weren’t for the two stone serpents forever locked into a fighting stance. Harry clapped his hands and excitedly murmured a slurred phrase as Severus repeated the same. The serpents hissed and lounged at each other before slithering aside to reveal the Chamber of Secrets. 

There was a moment of confusion as the group saw movement behind the doorway. It seemed that their supposition that the Basilisk was hibernating had been a wrong one. Frantically they all moved backward, Lily shielding Harry’s eyes, attempting to divert his sight from the Basilisk, but in her haste she mistakenly caught a glimpse of something deep and yellow in the water below, and tumbled to the ground, petrified. 

“Lily!” Severus yelled. She couldn’t die, not again. Not before he told her how he felt, because yes, in the months she’d been with them, he had fallen in love with  _ this  _ version of Lily. He prayed she was just petrified. He dodged the giant snake, giving Remus enough time to stab its eyes, to ensure no one else fell victim to the eyes of the Basilisk. 

The Basilisk moved erratically, flinging Remus towards the stone wall. Severus sent a cushioning charm towards him, softening the fall. 

Severus picked up Lily and baby Harry, letting out a breath of relief when he saw that she was still alive... He saw Hagrid remove the weasel from the bag, then the rooster. The weasel attacked, drawing the Basilisk away from the group. Hagrid plucked a feather from the rooster. It let out an echoing crow. 

The Basilisk shuddered and swayed, before hitting the ground with a reverberating thud, barely missing Severus, who was shielding Lily and Harry from danger.

There was barely time to rest. They needed to collect the fangs to destroy the Horcruxes. But most of all, they needed to awaken Lily.  _ He  _ needed her to be awakened.


	6. Epilogue

# Epilogue 

Lily awoke with a slight gasp and tried to sit up, but a gentle but firm hand pushed her back down. 

“None of that.”

She blinked the blurriness from her eyes and saw Severus sitting at her bedside. They were in the Hogwarts infirmary.

“Where’s Harry?” she asked.

“He’s fine.”

“But where is he?” She sounded more than a little worried.

“Calm down. He’s with Hagrid.”

That relaxed Lily. Hagrid was great with little Harry, and he had cared for him since day one. Lily felt that if she had not shown up, she could have counted on Hagrid to get Harry out of that horrid house. 

“You know you could have been killed ag—you could have been killed, right?”

“So? You could have too.”

Severus narrowed his eyes at her. “You had Harry with you.”

“Hagrid was going with us. I wasn’t going to leave him with someone else. Someone I don't know.”

“Well, you could have left yourself behind, too.”

“We're a team. We go together. That’s not—”

“Look.” Severus stopped any further protests. “You really put yourself at risk. You put Harry at risk as well. I don’t want to lose you, either of you. You need to be more careful. That could have ended a lot worse.”

“But it didn’t.”

Severus sighed. “We got lucky.”

Yes, they had been lucky. If she hadn't covered Harry's eyes... “I want to see Harry.”

“Okay, you will.” Severus paused. “But first...” He leaned down toward her. If he had read her signals right, she would not mind his forwardness.

And Lily hadn't minded in the least. She met him halfway, surging up to bring their lips together. They both smiled into the kiss. They had things to discuss later, but hope surged through them. They would have a later. 

* * *

Time looked at Fate and Death, all smiling. The Basilisk had been a close call. However, Death’s Reaper had turned the deadly sight away. They hadn’t worked so hard for Lily to join them in the end. Eventually, Death would take her, but for now, Fate smiled in her favor, while Time just passed around her.

It’d been an easy decision for Death and his Reaper to not let the Basilisk kill her or little Harry. Despite her foolishness in going down the Chamber,  _ especially _ with the baby, her intentions had been good and noble: to take the Basilisk out and with his venomous teeth destroy Tom Riddle’s Horcruxes.

And there were few mortals who Death and his Reapers hated more than Tom Riddle. In what consisted to be of a good portion of all realities, Tom Marvolo Riddle was filled with Darkness. Him and his  _ Death Eaters— _ how Death hated that name!

So yes, Death had looked the other way and allowed Fate to smile and Time to pass unaffected.  He could wait. Death smirked. One could even say that Time was his ally. 

Yes, he would wait. 

###  _ Fini _

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for "A Wayward Lily Approaches"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26970700) by [KentukaZash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KentukaZash/pseuds/KentukaZash)




End file.
